Autumn 2014

Today’s Emergent Geo-politics and the Day After: What’s Next in Energy Security?

Nurşin ATEŞOĞLU GÜNEY

The problem of energy has become the most important instrument in determining the contours of the new geo-politics of rivalry, alliances and cooperation in the 21st century. Starting in the 2000s, the emergence of new independent powers with excessive demands for energy as well as the rise of new independent energy sources based in different countries, along with new technological discoveries across energy sectors, has set in motion a situation of constant change and competition between state and non-state actors in the international system. Since human demand for energy continues to rise alongside the requirements of modern life, energy security is likely to remain one of the most important matters of concern, not only for the continuity of individual states’ survival but also as a complex matter for future global and regional cooperation and competition.